Longtime fan

You are entitled to an opinion but I won't engage in a dialogue to which I heard from a current player......I have no concrete evidence.... It's just what this player said last year when he re-committed.

UND won't/will not release his LOI. His only chance to play football is at UND. It sounds very much like he wants to play football...just not at UND.

This is straight from the mouth of a current player....Grady wanted to play for sdsu last year but UND wouldn't release his LOI. He obviously was on a return comeback as we all know...then rescinded. That is concerning ... why not here but sdsu

It's not just one deflection. To loose at least 3 high quality Ol ...Grady Merz and now Rain. If retained...UND could run their simplistic offense and occasionally succeed in the big sky....maybe nationally. They cannot afford to lose any quality in the trenches. If Rudolph was gone my mind set wouldn't be so gloom but it is what it is.

Do you have a source? If this is true what the !@#$ is going on with UND and it's inabilities to sustain OL!?! Rain, Grady, Merz....all three would of all been all conf to all American type players yet they all bail. As much as I love bubba and UND football ( and always will) there is something that is "off". With the lack of keeping quality OL and the horrible OC that UND has....this system seems to be a fail....offensively. They want a power offense (which I love and the type that succeeds) but with no quality power up front and 175 lb back ramming it up the middle...not happening. Add to that....no creativity....it all adds up to fail. The lack of attempting to recruit a quality qb in each class is another thorn in my ass. Playing in the big sky for another couple years should make it look a little better without quality up front but once they enter the mvfc.....ouch! Majorly disappointed if true.

1. Griebel/ McKinney. Very explosive players and if Rudolph was to find a playbook and use the screen , their talent would give UNDs offense two more explosive players with Santiago....of course it all depends on Rudolph 2. Ott. Unbelievable explosion. Would love to see him at OLB. 3. Helgren. Has been injured since his arrival. Was a great recruit and IF.....if he can stay/get healthy he would give UNDs line a staple to work off of. I like Tobin as well but helgren has the body along with the talent. 4. Ketteringham. Just because.

I mentioned earlier I would love to see him at OLB. His size and speed would be a great benefit to the backers. The DL seems to be deep with talent and the OLB as a crew is smallish in size. Regardless....can't wait to watch him light up some opposing offenses.

Good stuff. One thing I would like see...with the potential deep D line....is to have Zeke move to OLB. Incredibly talented and quick feet. Gives UND size at OLB and I have no doubts that he would excel on the outside. Very similar in size as Labat but 10x as explosive.

Looking ahead to next season there is much to like and to dislike. Likes - RBs Great talent if used right - DL Great talent returning and a great freshman class last year - upgrades at ILB - experience. With the incredible amount of injuries, a ton of young guys were able to get valuable playing time at nearly every position. In some incidence, the backups to backups had a chance to play. - as much as I liked Keaton , it will be nice to have a qb/qbs that are passing competent. With greibel and cam available UND will also have some quick slot guys Dislikes - Rudy is still employed at UND -OL needs to improve. I wasn't as hard on them as some do to the fact opposing defenses knew rudys 3 plays and the fact that freshman littered the starting positions. But they definitely need to improve. They will still be young as potentially there could be zero seniors starting. With the experience they got last year ....looking for better line control - special teams - New kicker , new punter and new snapper. Need to find punt/kick returners other than Santiago. He needs to be heavily used offensively, unlike last year. I believe cam could be that guy. - tougher schedule: miss valley st -W at wash - L at Sam- tough call.....L Idaho st- W at N colo- W bye Montana ...hmmm - L at sac st - L weber - L at Idaho - L port st - W at N Zona L 4-7 If Rudy was gone I could see 9-2. He alone is worth 5 losses....IMO. The D will/should be light years better. Overall they didn't lose much. Cole would of typically been a huge loss but he played so little last year that UND had time to digest it. Again....the game time experience with the young guys last year at the safety position, hoping to see improvements in 18. Very "green" last year, along with the ILB. I believe the ILB crew will be dramatically better. Donnell is a special player . Losing him was IMO the biggest lose in 17. Evan , when he played, was getting more comfortable at covering. Always had the speed ....now he seems to have found his coverage skills. He made a diffence in the secondary when not injured. If Deion is healthy .....I really like those two at cb Love bubba....but by being loyal to a fault and keeping Rudy ....his seat is now warm. Prove me wrong Rudy

If Rudolph is having a difficult time in the big sky ....he has absolutely ZERO chance against the 3/4 of the mvfc teams and all the fbs teams they have scheduled. Last year, Santiago didn't touch the ball offensively more then 16 times in a game. This includes 7 touches vs mont st, 9 vs sac st and 8 vs e wash. Simply incredible! Johanneson could of just as well been up on the catwalk with me as much as he was used. Izzy and the TEs are welcome as well. It's a great place to take in a game .... The predictability and lack of reading opposing D's ( using the talent the proper way) is astonishing given this is D1. It actually should come with ease to run up and down on a big sky team, regardless of personnel. UND can make an opposing teams D look like the Baltimore ravens. No way in hell that should happen with the talent they have. Bubba likes what he sees so no changes will be made....HUGE MISTAKE! Offensively....I think the optimistic few will believe next year will be better. Unfortunately, I will label myself as a pessimist....

Why were you salty when I asked UND biz if he knew why he backed out of his commitment ? Seems very personal to you.

I hope the coaches aren't like that. They do not work a 9-5 job...they should be working 24/7. There is no such thing as a wasted offer! Keep pursuing! A salesman never gives up when someone doesn't seem interested. You keep selling your goods....UND has a lot of goods to sell. UND needs to think big. By offers only....they have been sliding away from Minnesota each year ....sad! They have folded and given first rights to ndsu and other regional schools. This pisses me off like no other. Und offered 14 in 2015, 13 in 2016, 11 in 2017 and 9 for 2018. They should be offering 20-30 Minnesota kids a year. The team to the south built their dynasty by recruiting Minnesota. A ton of talent there and UND needs to capitalize on it.

I would have to say there is not a "move on "classification on their site. I will look into it for you Was bruner recruited by Iowa?

Hmmmm weird ...247 sports has him a decommit from the Hawkeyes April 25. His twitter showed him as an Iowa commit as well.

In terms of recruiting a particular state....Im going to use gopherhole as reference to Minnesota recruits. Not sure if they are a reputable site or not. Minnesota has been predominantly UNDs biggest state for recruits. I will use the 2015,16,17 and next years 2018 classes In four years, of the possible top 40 (top 10 of each years class), UND has offered only 6 of those. Zero recruits. Of the #11-20 range , UND has offered 9....zero recruits. So they offered 15 of the possible top 80 players in four years and zero recruits All together they offered 47 of the top 200 (4years) and received 20 LOI. So 20 of the top 200 (10%) attended UND and 20 of 47 offers signed with UND. Of the signees ....only two( helgren, Ott) had multiple D1 offers and only three others had one D1 offer other then UNDs. They need to step it up in Minnesota. Time to think big time. They didn't even pursue Trey lance. A stud qb in your backyard and don't even make an attempt!?

Lol. Spicy today! I like it. I'll take a stab....his offers were rescinded ....UND ended up being his only offer? Am I right? Do tell.

No clue ...I'm asking.

huber should be a good one. Any idea why he backed out of his commitment with Iowa?

I'm not shocked ...upset. South Dakota has beaten out ndsu for recruits.. UND should be able to. No?

In bubbas time here, how many recruiting battles has he won to where the recruit had numerous offeres by fcs or fbs? I know Zeke was highly recruited and bruner this year. Griebel I believe. Cloyd ? Who else? As mentioned by a few posters ....the coaches have hit on some "hidden " gems but it seems a majority of the time they either lose out to competing schools or simply don't attempt to recruit highly sought after recruits. They need to change that culture and believe they can win these battles. Go after the tops dogs and reel them on a perennial basis. Two other regional teams are doing it. Time to beat out recruits against ndsu, sdsu, uni ...etc. Sick of that team to the south constantly beating UND for recruits. UND is a great academic school with great football tradition. It would be great to have 6-8 recruits sign with UND in feb when they beat out the likes of ndsu sdsu, Wyoming, bowling green, N ill. Does it mean that just because they are recruited by a numerous D1 schools that will turn into instant all Americans? No. Typically though ...they have the talent (speed an size) to at minimum be capable of being " next man up" if called upon. The other thing that winning battles against regional schools is that once recruits see other recruits choosing your school, it's almost like a monkey see monkey do motto. Create a recruit vacuum. UND won the big sky and was seeded in the playoffs two years ago. That coming after narrowly missing the playoffs the year before....UND should of/could of had their choice of some highly sought after recruits if winning is the culture they are looking for. UND was the new up and coming toy in the region. Recruits notice and it's the coaches duty to reel them in. Last year we will forget. But the two years before bubba had UND in winning mode. This is not a hate rant on the coaching staff as I think they definitely have recruited some real good talent but they do need to step it up with what we witnessed last year

Positives on today's signings: 1. Rain- massive! the gem of the class imo. Plays football the way it's supposed to be played.....aggressive 2. Siegel- looks legit and fluid. 3. Bruner- great get by the coaches ...has a nice twitch. 4. Kadon- I really like his film. Nice size. Negatives 1. No qb !? Outside of Brock, the coaches seem to not invest interest in the qb. This is the most important position in football ... they need to "up" their recruiting effort. 2. Would like to see a couple more OL and ILB. 3. Rudolph is still here

Frustrating to watch a conference foe get dismantled by a pioneer team. To potentially lose is one thing ( bad enough ) but to get blown out!?! Emberssing! It has become a perennial occurrence that Big sky teams end the season weak. Is that do to the physicality? 100% ! The playoffs expose the finesse nature of big sky teams. Big sky teams are weak in the trenches. This hits my nerve the most .....watching UND get dismantled or dominated by big sky teams this year and not being able to dominate. Fwiw ...UND only played one playoff big sky team this year. I have stated numerous times that offensively UND should absolutely dominate these weak crap year in and year out....pioneer teams dominate it...why can't UND!? As much as I can't stand the constant rah rah about the mvfc from the team to south ....UND is so not ready for weekly mvfc play.

As I mentioned....the talent of the backs were most likely the reason for those stats but to fault the line when they were set up to fail from the beginning is not right either. I also mentioned a couple posts back that they don't need four all Americans on the line to be successful in the big sky. The play calling absolutely hurt a subpar o line. When opposing Ds stack the box you can't expect 5 guys to block 9. They were definitely part of a big issue .....but the main issue was from higher up on the ladder

The three rbs had 271 carries 1602 yards for 5.9 ave. Is that decent or bad? With the opposing defenses lining up 9 in the box and knowing nearly every play I think that's not to bad. IMO, the pure talent from the rbs is perhaps the majority of the reason why they were able to get those yards. Does the line deserves a little bit of credit with a 5.9 rush ave though? The o line was not perfect but that's what an OC is for, recognize and adjust! Use screen passes, two step drop passes ,usage of the TEs when the line is struggling....instead Rudolph is comfortably content on sending the 175 lb Santiago up the middle. When the opposing D gets heavy push or sets up shop in your backfield....you design plays that counter that and work that angle until the defense adjusts accordingly. Then go back to your mo-jo. Rudolph has four plays! More like two but has occasionally used up to four in a single game. Literally ANYBODY could be an OC in this offense. Caveman mentality....give ball to back, back run up middle, back make yard, back mad!!! In regards to the OL, this staff has had four years to bring in the talent they feel necessary to implement their philosophy. The staff then starts what they feel is the best 5. If the 5 they start are not up to par ...its on the staff. They did the recruiting I agree that the line can take blame just like everyone else that has an association with this years program...but with a combination of playing in the big sky and play calling ....the offense should not be struggling they way they are even with a subpar line. This amateur play calling will get a heavy dose of reality when they enter mvfc play week in and week out.

My exact thoughts as well. There is a lot of posters here thinking that is was only this year that everyone is on he hate train for Rudolph. Not the case.....been three years plus. Or maybe its just me? I've felt Rudolph would be at his best calling out bingo numbers at a local dive bar or nursing home...a much better place for him. Bubba is definitely in the cross hairs now that he proudly announced everything is all good in his presser Santiago is so much better than 700 yards for the year. JJ is so much better than 250 yards for the year izzy is so much better than 95 yards rec on the year luke is so much better than 35 yards rec on the year Und plays in the d-less big sky for @&&! sake!!!! They don't need four all American OL to succeed in this conf! Outside of UNC, they were unable to score more then 3 tds offensively in any conference game ?????? 21 points is the best they could muster up????? Big sky! Bad defenses !! Santiago will have one more year of powering it up the gut.....wasted year and career ........frustrating!! His stats just get worse every year. I expect little from him next year with Rudolph coming back. MVCF teams will eat this offense up The offense has talent ...that's what makes it so frustrating! Used properly and they could excel Since no changes will be made .....they open next year on the road against Washington and San Houston......what's the best we can hope for??? ...winning the TOP !? Is that the coaches quota ?